Instagram is a social media platform focused on professional photography where users can post photos and critique others' work. The guide outlines a 5 step process for posting photos which includes choosing a subject, taking the photo, editing it, adding a caption, and uploading it. The steps provide questionable tips such as tilting the camera at an angle when taking nature photos, avoiding smiling in self portraits, and adding unrelated hashtags to captions.

1. Instagram
A Step-by-Step Guide

2. Instagram
Instagram is a social website dedicated to
professional photography. The public’s finest
photographers gather on this forefront to
present their work and critique others.
Gaining a reputation on such a forum takes
unprecedented talent, but the basics consist
of just five simple steps.

3. Step One
Choosing Your Subject

4. Step One: Choosing Your Subject
Consider the following questions:
• Is it meaningful or thought provoking?
• Does it make a comment on society?
• Does it present you in a positive manner?
• Is it something no one has ever seen before?
• Does it deal with a topic the educated class cares
about?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you
may want to reconsider your photo subject.

5. Step Two
Taking Your Picture

6. Step Two: Taking Your Picture
This step is extremely important. Here are a few tips to
keep your picture perfect:
• If you are taking a nature photo: Tilt your camera to
the right and get as close to the ground as possible.
• If you are taking a picture of food: Take a picture that
shows both the top and a side of your snack with the
largest portion in the upper-right-hand corner.
• If you are taking a picture of yourself: Don’t look
directly at the camera lens and be sure not to smile. A
serious face or lips-slightly-parted-half-smile tend to
look best.

7. Step Three
Editing Your Photo

8. Step Three: Editing Your Photo
Editing each picture ensures they maintain
originality. The most popular edits are as follows:
• Adjust the saturation and contrast of your photo
to darken the background and emphasize your
favorite part of the photo. Templates like X-Pro
and Hudson work well with both dark and light
contrasts.
• Add a soft focus to your photo. Don’t put the
focus on the main subject. Instead, focus on
something insignificant in the background.

9. Step Three: Editing Your Photo
• Using different photo-editing apps, apply custom
effects to your picture. The disco-like bubbles are
ever popular as well as the “random streak of
light” effect. Any effect will give your photo its’
own flair.
• Give your picture a border. There are many to
choose from, but stay away from anything clear
or with sharp corners. Borders that fade into the
picture and darken the edges are preferable.

10. Step Four
Giving Your Picture a Caption

11. Step Four: Giving Your Picture a Caption
There are three types of captions acceptable on
instagram:
1. Captions that seek attention or validation. These
consist of phrases like “I’m so ugly” or “Worst day
ever”. Posting a photo bearing a caption of this
category will ensure plentiful comments from your
peers that are focused on boosting your self
confidence.
2. Captions that are made up by the photographer and
are intended to be inspirational or humorous. These
captions must be more than one sentence long apply
loosely to the subject of the photo.

12. Step Four: Giving Your Picture a Caption
3. Captions that are quotes. Quotes must be by
someone famous, but may pertain to any topic.
They do not need to have any correlation to the
actual photo. Quote captions are most
commonly used on self-portraits to distract from
the narcissistic nature of the picture.
Don’t forget to add a couple hashtags as completely
unrelated afterthoughts next to your caption.

13. Step Five
Uploading Your Picture

14. Step Five: Uploading Your Picture
Click the “Upload” button and your completed
picture will be posted to instagram.
Don’t forget to check back every hour or so to
see how many likes and comments your photo
has.

15. Here are some examples of pictures I
posted on instagram.
Many different techniques and tips
were employed in their posting
processes, resulting in perfect photos.

19. The End
Congratulations on completing your first post!
Instagram is fun and easy to use, as well as a
great, wholesome way to spend free time. By
posting multiple times per day, your
photographic skills will continue to grow, and
so will your followers. One picture at a time
we can define our world with nothing but a
simple hashtag.